Fishermen at Namela Village in Mtwara Region have requested the government to make prices of fishing tackle more affordable to them.
They made the request yesterday when the World Wildlife Fund visited the village to assess the progress of Beach Management Units operating in the area.
This is after a complaint that fishing has not been more effective and productive in the village and the region in general because of poor and old fishing tackle.
“Fishing is our main source of income here and we only have one motorized boat donated by the WWF but still it isn’t enough as it caters for nine wards,” said the BMU’s chairperson, Ms Habiba Mohammed.
She added that the situation had caused fishermen to continue using their old and ineffective fishing tackle.
She appealed to the government to increase its investment in the fishing industry just like how it did to agriculture including giving loans to the fishermen to buy modern fishing tackle like boats, refrigerators and so on.
AllAfrica